For Ash Amin, the hardest part of finding work was never the work itself. It was the interview.
The 25-year-old from Sydney, who has been diagnosed with severe autism, studied computer science before stepping away from university to focus on her mental health and getting by. She went on to apply for programming roles, then admin jobs, then fast food, taking whatever she could find. Each time, she says, the outcome was the same: a rejection after the interview, with no explanation. “I am noticeably different and cannot help that,” she says.
Making it work on a tight budget
Ash receives a disability pension and shares a tiny studio apartment with a friend. Most of her pension goes towards supporting the household, leaving very little for anything else. Many of her friends live with physical and mental disabilities and come from marginalised backgrounds, and she wants to be able to help them. Including with health care costs.
“I don’t want to rely on the government forever,” she says. “I want to give back to society.”
A career built around her strengths
Ash has always been drawn to economics and finance, fascinated by how the world moves and how people get what they need. She has dabbled in small-scale options and share trading, and now wants to pursue securities trading as a career.
For her, the appeal is practical as well as intellectual. Trading has few gatekeepers, no interview panel and no one to convince. It can be done from home, at her own pace, away from the noise, bright light and social demands that she finds overwhelming. And it suits the way her mind works: she can study charts for hours and enjoys the challenge.
“I am overcoming my condition by avoiding situations where I am weak, and focusing on what I am strong at,” she says.
Her plan is to trade through her own brokerage account, focus on short-term price action and take a cautious approach, prioritising protecting capital over chasing big wins. She has been studying the field through academic sources and says she intends to take it slowly. Her fundraising goal is $15,000 in starting capital.
More than a one-off ask
Ash says she doesn’t want to keep coming back for help with one-off expenses. She wants to build something lasting, something that could eventually let her support others the way she is hoping to be supported now.
“Please be part of my story,” she says. “And help me out of a place that so many autistic people find themselves in.”
Her fundraiser is on GoFundMe.